This invention relates to a process for producing compacted, dehydrated, uncooked cabbage which is capable of being reconstituted to crisp cabbage for use in salads or cole slaw, and to the improved compacted, dehydrated, uncooked cabbage product produced thereby.
Uncooked cabbage is highly susceptible to the destruction of its natural turgidity. In the preparation of salads and cole slaw containing uncooked cabbage, retention of crispness by the cabbage is important from the standpoint of acceptability of the food product containing the cabbage. Cooking tends to destroy the turgidity of cabbage and to produce a mushy cabbage product if cooking is prolonged or conducted at a high temperature. Similarly, freezing of cabbage so severely damages the cellular structure of cabbage that, even though the cabbage may be freeze-vacuum-dehydrated to permit safe, prolonged storage, the reconstituted cabbage product is very mushy, even without being cooked.
Since fresh cabbage is subject to deterioration within a short period of time in its natural state, it has been very difficult to store it for very long periods so that, after such storage, it will have substantially the same characteristics and acceptability in salads and in cole slaw as fresh cabbage has. Numerous efforts have been made to dehydrate and to compress cabbage so as to render it suitable for long-term storage in the uncooked state while still retaining the ability to be reconstituted to a state closely approximating fresh cabbage. Until the present invention, all such efforts have fallen short of attainment of a compacted, dehydrated, uncooked cabbage which could be reconstituted into a cabbage product which would be substantially like fresh cabbage, particularly in terms of turgidity as well as flavor.
Since freezing of such vegetables as cabbage, as mentioned above, destroys the cellular structure, air drying of cabbage has been experimented with for years and the air dried cabbage has been compressed to save space when the air dried cabbage is stored or shipped considerable distances. However, if the moisture content of the cabbage is reduced by air drying sufficiently to be storage stable for at least 3 years at about 20.degree. C. or at least 6 months at about 40.degree. C., compression of the dry cabbage has usually resulted in shattering of the structure of the cabbage particles or shreds and the production of many fines which upon reconstitution do not revert to the sizes and shapes of the original particles of cabbage. Furthermore, such air dried cabbage is slow to rehydrate in cool or cold water, which in many cases has resulted in the necessity of employing hot water to obtain reconstitution of the cabbage within a reasonable length of time, thus resulting in cooked, reconstituted cabbage, which is unsuitable for salad or cole slaw applications.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved process for producing compacted, dehydrated, uncooked cabbage which is rapidly reconstitutable in cool or cold water to produce uncooked cabbage having substantially the same turgidity characteristics as fresh cabbage.
A further object is to provide dehydrated, uncooked cabbage of increased density which, when rehydrated, will be restored to particle shape and form such as that of the cabbage prior to dehydration and compression thereof.
A still further object is to provide a process for producing such compacted, dehydrated, uncooked cabbage of increased density and decreased bulk which will have good storage stability when packaged and hermetically sealed in a container which is impervious to moisture, and which will be readily rehydratable after long-term storage to restore the cabbage to particle shapes and sizes such as it had prior to dehydration and compression, including good acceptability, and particularly good utility in salads or in cole slaw.
Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description of the invention, and the novel featues will be particularly pointed out in connection with the appended claims.